Dead end



T. E. BUTZ DEAD END July 15, 1969 Sheet 1 S'Sheets INVENTOIR. TOM E.BUTZ Filed March 29, 1968 July 15, 1969 T. E. BUTZ I 3, 9

Filed March 29, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 15, 1969 T. E. BUTZ 3,455,099

I DEAD END Filed March 29, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 mveuron. I TOM a BUTZUnited States Patent US. Cl. 57145 17 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA dead end for lines and the like having a set of elements each havinghelically formed end portions and straight central portions. The centralportion may have a strap member and also the central portion of theelements may be in crossing relationship.

This invention relates to new, different, and unobvious dead ends andmethod of manufacturing the same and more particularly to new,different, and unobvious dead ends made of preformed helical wires, rodsor elements.

Although the principal use of dead ends is for the dead ending of lines,they are also useful as cable suspension means, for use with come-alongsfor pulling conductors or lines for service drop grips. The dead ends ofthis invention are an improvement over those shown in US. Patent3,295,311, dated Jan. 3, 1967 and issued in the name of Tom B. Butz andSeymour N. Schlein.

Dead ends made in accordance with the above entitled patent are formedwith a plurality of elements having helically formed leg sections andstraightened bight sections. These dead ends have found widespread usein the pole line hardware field and have proved to be superior in mostrespects to the helical bight dead ends which were in common use priorto the introduction of the straight bight dead ends formed according tosaid patent.

A dead end having a straightened bight section has many advantages overthe prior art helical bight dead ends. The fact that the bight has arelatively thin flat configuration, as opposed to a relatively thickconfiguration of the helical bight dead end, is advantageous in certainaspects; but with certain types of clamps complete fail-safe groundingwas not attainable with this flat configuration of a bight.

In guying electrical poles or towers, a dead end is placed on one end ofthe guy line which is attached to a pole or tower to be guyed and a deadend is applied to the other end of the line which engages some type ofground anchoring device. These guy lines are tensioned to the propertension and normally the dead end will bear tightly against the bearingsurface thus assuring a positive electrical and mechanical contact withthe ground. This positive contact is important since in someinstallations the guy wire is part of the electrical grounding system;also even if the guys are not a part of the ground ing systemelectricity may accidentally be introduced into the guy. Thus, ifelectricity is introduced into the guy, the well grounded condition willrender the guy safe.

However, in some instances the guy may become slack either momentarilydue to wind or vibration effect, or because of other change in forces;or, the guy may be permanently slack because of improperlyapplied-tensioning forces during installation. When the guy is slack,the dead end may not be in solid firm contact with the bearing surfaces,particularly at the anchoring device. If under these slack conditions,between the dead end and the ground anchor, electricity is introducedinto the guy wire, the grounding of the guy will be improper and any3,455,099 Patented July 15, 1969 person touching the guy may be injuredor killed due to electric shock.

In order to assure that the guy remains positively and firmly in contactwith the ground anchor many anchor rods have bonding clamps installedwhich tightly clamp the bight of the dead end against the bearingsurface of the anchor rod. This assures that even if the guy goes slackthere will be positive pressure to afford sufficient contact between theanchor rod and the dead end to provide a positive solid ground. Yet,certain types of bonding clamps do not extend sufficiently into theanchor rod eye to engage the straightened bight dead end of the typeshown in said Patent No. 3,925,311 since this configuration is fiat andthin as compared to the thicker, twisted configuration of the helicalbight.

In order to assure a positive adequate ground of a straight bight deadend, one of the features of this invention is the provision of a band orstrap, in the bight portion of a straight bight dead end which willassure a positive adequate clamping action between the bonding clamp andthe bearing surface of the anchor rod.

Another feature of this invention contemplates the provision of a deadend formed of a multiplicity of elements having helically formed legsand straight bight sections arranged in a set such that the elements arein crossing relationship with each other in the bight portion. Thisarrangement may also utilize a strap or band device which in thisembodiment not only provides a positive clamping action between thebonding clamp and the bearing surface of an anchor rod, but also mayserve to keep the elements arranged in a compact group and also tomaintain the cross-over location of the elements at a selected position.It has been found that the use of dead ends having elements in crossingrelationship in proper position increases the resistance to failure of adead end due to vibration. Hence, this arrangement may be desirable ifexcessive vibration is being encountered with attendant failures.

These and other objects together with a fuller understanding of theinvention may he had by referring to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a set of elements having helicallyformed leg portions and a straight central portion; 1

FIGURE 2 shows the set of FIGURE 1 having a band applied to the centralportion;

FIGURE 3 shows the set of FIGURE 2 bent to form a dead end ready forinstallation;

FIGURE 4 is the device of FIGURE 3 rotated FIGURE 5 shows a dead endwith a gripping band installed on a line and secured to a ground anchorhaving a clamping device;

FIGURE 6 shows an installed dead end having a different configuration ofa gripping band; 7

FIGURE 7 shows a set of elements having helically formed ends andstraightened central portions which central portions are in crossingrelationship in the middle;

FIGURE 8 shows the set of FIGURE 7 bent to form a dead end ready forapplication to a line;

FIGURE 8a shows a device similar to FIGURE 8 rotated 90 but wherein thewires in the bight section are spread or spaced;

FIGURE 8b shows a fragmentary perspective view of the device of FIGURE8a;

FIGURE 9 is a set of elements similar to FIGURE 7, but having a grippingband applied to the central portion thereof;

FIGURE 10 is the set of elements shown in FIGURE 9 bent to form a deadend ready for application to a line;

FIGURE 11 shows a device similar to FIGURE 8 with the location of thecross-over being located at a point spaced from the bearing area of thebight;

FIGURE 12 is a device similar to FIGURE 10 with the cross-over point ofthe elements in the bight being located at a location spaced from thebearing point of the bight portion of the dead end;

FIGURE 13 is the dead end of FIGURE 11 applied to a line;

FIGURE 13a is the dead end of FIGURE 8w applied to a line;

FIGURE 14 is the dead end device of FIGURE 12 applied to a line;

FIGURE 15 is a sectional view taken substantially along the planedesignated by the line 1515 of FIG- URE FIGURE 16 is a sectional viewtaken substantially along the plane designated by the line 1616 ofFIGURE 13.

FIGURE 17 is the device of FIGURE 8 applied to a line.

Referring now to the drawings and for the present to FIGURES 1 through4, one embodiment of a dead end with a gripping strap device, accordingto the present invention is shown. FIGURE 1 shows a set of threeelements 20A, 20B, 20C, which have been formed into a group havinghelically formed end portions 22A, 22B and 22C at opposite ends thereofand straightened central portions 24A, 24B and 24C. The helically formedend portions substantially conform to each other with respect to pitchlength and internal diameter. This figure represents an intermediatestep in the forming of the dead end and preferably this set is made asdisclosed in said Patent 3,295,311. The central portions 24A, 24B and24C are generally parallel being free of a complete helical revolution.(If this set is formed according to the teachings of the 3,295,311patent the central portion may have some slight inside curvature asdisclosed therein.) The central portion being free of a complete helicalrevolution, there is no cross-over relationship of the wires withrespect to each other.

In FIGURE 2 a gripping strap 26 is shown applied around the centralsection of the straightened portions 24A, 24B and 24C. When thisgripping strap has been applied the elements with the strap thereon arebent to. the configuration shown in FIGURE 3 to form a dead end with theopposite helically formed ends 22A, 22B and 22C becoming the legs of thedead end and the straightened central portions 24A, 24B and 24C becomingthe bight portion of the dead end with the strap 26 being locatedcentrally of the bight and in the area which will normally engageWhatever anchoring device to which the dead end is secured. The legs arepreferably configured such that when they are both applied to a line ingripping relationship they will provide more than half-lay coverage butless than whole-lay coverage.

A whole-lay is one where the helical wire elements, when wrapped aroundthe line, completely encompass the line to which they are applied. Ahalf-lay of helical wi-re elements is one where the elements, whenWrapped around the line, will cover one-half of the line. For example, adead end that provides whole-lay coverage when assembled on the linecannot accommodate another wire of the same size in each of its legs andat the same time allow all of the elements of the intertwisted legs tomaintain gripping contact with the line. When two legs are assembled onthe line and the coverage of the circumference of the line is less thanabout 80-85 percent, the two legs do not form a whole-lay and each legmay be considered to he less than a half-lay. This definition, ofcourse, ap-

plies to practical commercial installations and does not apply tosituations in which the diameter of the wire elements in the legs of thedead end are very small (nonconventional) or very large(non-conventional) in relation to the diameter of the line.

FIGURE 4 which is a view of FIGURE 3 rot ted 90 shows that the strap 26adds substantially to the thickness of the central bight portion of thedead ending device.

Alternately, with respect to the manufacture of the device of thisinvention, the elements as shown in FIGURE 1 can be bent prior to theapplication of the gripping strap to essentially the formation shown inFIGURES 3 and 4 and then a gripping strap which has been pre-bent andpreformed to the required shape can be applied after this bendingoperation has taken place. In either event the strap is crimped on sothat it tightly engages the central portion of the bight and willsecurely grip the elements in the bight section.

The dead end as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 can be applied to the end of aline as shown in FIGURE 5 with the bight portion engaging an anchor roddesignated generally as 28. This is one conventional type anchoringdevice which has a projection 30 adapted to be embedded in the earthwhich extends from an eye portion 32 having a bearing surface 34 againstwhich the dead and bears. A bonding clamp 36 is installed on the eyeportion 32. One type of bonding clamp which is widely used, and which isshown in FIGURE 5, is sold by the A. B. Chance Co. of Centralia, M0. Theclamp 36 is secured to the anchor rod eye 32 and has a pair of splitblocks 37 movable toward and away from the bearing surface 34 and forthe purpose of firmly securing the bight thereagainst. As explainedabove, some of these clamps will move sufficiently to contact athickened bight dead end such as the dead ends with cabled loops, butwill not move far enough to engage flattened configurations of thestraight bight. How ever, the strap 26 provides additional thickness sothat blocks 37 will bear against the gripping strap 26 to provide goodsolid contact for the grounding function. Thus, the strap 26 providesthis solid contact necessary for adequate grounding.

In addition to providing a solid grounding contact for the device, thegripping strap 26 also serves the function of holding the set ofelements together so they will maintain their integrity during shippingand while they are being installed. This assures that the elements ofthe set will not become separated during handling or installation andthat the set will be maintained with the elements as an integral unit.

The gripping strap 26 may be formed of a variety of different materials.The only requirement is that it be electrically conductive and that itnot react either with the dead end or the anchor rod to cause rapidcorrosive deterioration of either. Aluminum is well adapted for thispurpose and makes an excellent gripping strap, but galvanized steel aswell as many other materials may be used.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, another embodiment of the gripping strap isshown applied to a dead end. In this embodiment, a single strap member38 is placed on th exterior of the bight and held thereto by a pair ofbands 40 and 42 at opposite ends thereof. These bands 40 and 42 could beformed integrally with the strap 38 as tabs which are bent. Thisparticular configuration reduces somewhat the amount of material neededand still adequately performs the function. The additional thickness isprovided exteriorly of the bight to provide the necessary contact. Inthis case the elements will bear against the bearing surface 34 of theground anchor 32 and the bonding clamp 36 will bear against the strap.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 and 8, another embodiment of this inventionis shown. In this embodiment elements 20A, 20B and 20C are shownarranged in a subset, the elements having helically formed end portions22A, 22B and 220 at opposite ends thereof and straight central portions24A, 24B and 24C between said end portions. However, in this embodimentinstead of the elements lying parallel as was the case in FIGURE 1, theelements are arranged in crossing relationship at the cen ter of thecentral sections 24A, 24B and 24C, as indicated at 44. When the deviceof FIGURE 7 is bent to the form shown in FIGURE 8. it is suitable forapplying to a line figuration. The device of FIGURES 8a and 8b is shownapplied to a line in FIGURE 13a. However, under tension load the wireswill pull together in the bight section so that it will assume theconfiguration of the bight shown a helically formed bight portion. Thetests were performed on galvanized steel dead ends made from the sameelement specification for the different bight or loop designs and weretested on 1% pins. The tests were performed on extra high strength steelstrand. Dead ends of the same design were placed on opposite ends of thestrand and the strand tensioned to 40% of its rated breaking strength.The strand was then vibrated at a given power and frequency. The resultsof these vibration tests in FIGURE 17. The legs may have whole-laycoverage 10 are shown in the table below:

TABLE Average Average A power input frequency Cycles to Sample Loopconfiguration (watts) (hertz) failure Analysis A 14.5 70. 416, 000 Broke1 wire of dead end where dead end Straight bight parallel Wires startedengagement of strand. B uncrossed configuration. 12.1 71. 7 1 4, 620,000Test discontinued. C 12.0 71. 9 812,000 Broke 1 wire of dead end wheredead end started engagement of strand. Average 2 614, 000

D Helical bight (twisted or 12. 3 72. 7 691,000 Broke 1 wire in loop ofdead end. E cabled) confi uration 5 6 F g 12. 0 72. 7 503, 000 Do.

Average 3 531, 000

G Straight bight crossed were 13. 7 72.0 1 1,125.000 Test discontinued.H configuration crossed away 12.0 72.3 1 2, 747, 000 Do. from bearingsurface. 12.0 71. 9 1 1, 061, 000 Do. J Straight bight wires crossing12.0 71. 7 695,000 Broke 1 wire in loop of dead end.

at bearing surface.

1 No failure.

2 Average of Samples A and C.

3 Average of Samples D, E and F. or may be less than whole-lay but morethan half-lay coverage.

A gripping strap may be used when the wires in th bight have a crossingconfiguration, if desired. In fact, such a strap is particularlydesirable when the wires tend to spread as in FIGURES 8a and 8b to groupor bunch them together. Such a strap is shown applied to the elements inFIGURE 9, and FIGURE 10 shows the device with a gripping strap bent toform a dead end. Again, it is to be understood that the strap 26 couldbe ap lied after the elements were bent into the form shown in FIGURE 8rather than before as shown in FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 11 shows a device similar to that shown in FIGURE 8 except thatthe cross-over point 44 of the wires is not located in the middle of thebight, but is located at a place between the middle and the start of oneof the legs. FIGURE 12 is a device similar to FIG- URE 11 with thecross-over point 44 removed from the middle of the bight but having agripping strap applied thereto. FIGURES l3 and 14 show the devices ofFIG URES 11 and 12 respectively, applied to the lines.

The devices having the crossed over configuration as illustrated inFIGURES 7 through 14 and FIGURE 17 and especially those in FIGURES 11through 14, are particularly useful where excessive vibration is likelyto be encountered and maximum vibration resistance is required. It hasbeen theorized in the past that dead ends with straightened centralsections having crossing relationships of the elements would be verypoor because upon application of tensile pull one of the elements wouldassume most of the initial load and fail. Immediately thereafter,another element would pick up the load and fail followed by anotherelement picking up the load and failing until all had failed. It wasalso thought that elements having cross-over relationship would havepoor resistance to breaking due to vibration as a result of chafiing.However, tests were performed using dead ends with crossing elementconfiguration similar to those shown in FIGURES 8, 8a, 8b, 10, 11, 12and the dead ends not only held the rated breaking strength of the line,they also held until the line broke. Also, tests were performed whichcompared the resistance of vibration of the dead ends similar to thoseshown in FIGURES 8 and 11 with a dead end formed according to the3,295,311 patent and also with a conventional prior art dead end havingAn examination of this table shows that in all tests the dead ends withstraightened bight configuration with the elements in crossingrelationship at a location spaced from the bearing surface never failedup to the end of the testing period. With three devices made accordingto the 3,295,311 patent, one did not fail whereas the remaining twofailed at cycles substantially below the number of cycles which thestraightened bight dead ends with cross ing configuration exceeded. Intwo out of the three tests, the devices with the straight bight withouta crossing configuration lasted longer than any of the devices with ahelical bight. The one test performed on the device with a straightenedbight configuration having the cross-over at the bearing surface wasbetter than any device with the helical bight configurations and betterthan one test of the straight bight non-crossing configuration.

This excellent resistance to vibration of devices having thestraightened bight cross-wire configuration in the bight is notcompletely understood.

As indicated above, it has been theorized that the crossed configurationof the wires would contribute to an early failure due to chafing of theWires and the like. It is still not completely understood why such acrossed configuration is so substantially more resistant to vibration.However, it is believed that this superiority is in part due to the morebalanced phase relationship of the opposite legs of each element as theyare applied to the line. This can be demonstrated by an examination ofFIGURES 15 and 16. FIGURE 15 is a sectional view taken through a deviceas applied to a line wherein the device has a straightened bightconfiguration but does not have a crossing relationship of the wires inthe bight. Also, it should be noted that the elements in the legs of ahelical bight dead end have substantially this same relationship. FIGURE16 is a sectional view taken through a device wherein the straightenedwires in the bight are in crossing relationship and each wire crossesevery other wire in the bight.

The dotted lines in both FIGURES 15 and 16 connect the opposite legs ofthe same elements. Thus, when examining FIGURE 15 it can be seen thatphase displacement of angle X between the opposite legs of the elementsof 20C is different than phase displacement or angle Y between theopposite legs of the elements 20B and depending on how the elements areapplied, may or may not be the same as the phase displacement or angle Zbetween the opposite legs of element 20A. Further, it can be seen thatno matter how the legs are applied or shifted with the elements lying inan uncrossed relationship as shown in FIGURE 15, it is impossible forthe opposite legs of each of the three elements to have the same phasedisplacement.

However, as can be seen in FIGURE 16, when the elements are in crossingrelationship with each element crossing each other element the phasedisplacement or angle X between the opposite legs of the element 20C isequal to the phase displacement or angle Y of the opposite legs of theelement 20B which is equal to phase angle Z between the opposite legs ofthe element 20A. Thus, the phase displacement of helically formedportions of one leg of any one element with respect to the other leg issubstatnially the same for every element.

Because of the equality of phase displacement of the opposite legs ofthe elements 20A, 20B and 20C in the straightened bight crossing wireconfiguration, each element will share approximately equally the forcesin the dead end, including the torque or twisting forces. Conversely,because of the unequal phase displacement of the elements in 20A, 20B,and 20C in the straightened bight non-crossing configuration there maywell be different loading of the different elements. When the wirescross at the bearing surface, as in the case of the helical bightconfiguration and in the case of the straight bight crosswireconfiguration wherein the wires cross at the bearing surface, thiscrossing relationship tends to contribute to the failure of the deviceat this point before any difference in loading of the wires becomesignificant. However, where there is no cross-over bight configurationat the bearing surface, such as in the straight bight dead end with thewires parallel in the loop, this different loading may becomesignificant and because of this, failure occurs. This is evidenced bythe fact that the dead ends having straightened bight parallel elementrelationship tended to break adjacent the region where they firstcontact the strand, as opposed to breaking in the loop as did thosewhere there was a crossing of the wires in the loop at the bearingsurface. It is theorized that the crossing configuration of the wireswhen at a location spaced from the bearing surface does not have anyoverriding significant effect on failure, and because of the equalloading, the straightened bight configuration with the opposite legs ofeach of the elements in equal phase displacement, the resistance tovibration failure is outstanding.

What is claimed is:

'1. Means for holding a line to a support, said means beingcharacterized in that it has resistance to peeling and slippage whenapplied to said line, said means comprising; a plurality of resilientelements; said elements each having helically preformed end portions andan intermediate substantially straight portion joining said helicallypreformed end portions; each of said elements of said helicallypreformed end portions substantially conforming as to pitch length andinternal diameter; said elements being positioned to form a group withone another; said group of elements being bent within said intermediatestraight portion to form a substantially straight bight section beingfree of a complete helical revolution; at least one member in abuttingrelationship with at least a portion of said bight section and formed ofan electrically conductive material, said member being configured andarranged to increase the thickness of the bight section where said bightsection is adapted to engage a bearing surface, legs extending from therespective ends of said straight bight section, each of said legscomprising said helically preformed portions of said elements.,

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said member includes a strap at leastpartially surrounding and grippingly engaging said elements.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said member includes a band, andclamping means securing said strap to said bight.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said strap is positioned on the surfaceof said bight and is adapted for engagement with a bonding clamp.

5. The device of claim 1 in combination with an anchor device having abearing surface and a bonding clamp, said bight section with said memberthereon being secured between said bearing surface and said bondingclamp.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said member at least partiallysurrounds said bight section at the location said bight section isgripped between said bonding clamp and said bearing surface.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein said member includes a flat bandlocated between the elements of said bight section and the bondingclamp.

8. Means for holding a line to a support, said means being characterizedin that it has resistance to peeling and slippage when applied to saidline, and will sustain at least the rated breaking strength of the linewhen loaded and is extremely resistant to vibration failure, said meanscomprising: a plurality of resilient elements; said elements each havinghelically preformed end portions and an intermediate substantiallystraight portion joining said helically preformed end portions; each ofsaid elements of said helically preformed end portions substantiallyconforming as to pitch length and internal diameter; said elementspositioned to form a group with one another, said group of elementsbeing bent within the intermediate straight portion to form a bightsection wherein each element is free of a complete helical revolution;said elements being positioned such that a crossing relationship existsbetween said elements in the bight section, legs extending from therespective ends of said straight bight section each of said legscomprising said helically preformed portions of said elements.

9. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein each each element crosseseach other element in the bight section, and phase displacement betweenthe helically preformed end portions of one element is substantially thesame as the phase displacement between the helically preformed endportions of the other elements of said holding means when said holdingmeans is applied to a 10. The device of claim 8 wherein the crossingrelationship of the elements occurs in said bight section at a locationspaced from the position where said bight section is adapted to engage abearing surface.

11. The device of claim 8 further characterized by strap means forengaging said elements in said bight section and maintaining them as agroup.

12. The device of claim 8 in combination with a line and anchoringdevice having a bearing surface.

13. The combination of claim 12 wherein said crossover relationship ofthe elements is at a location spaced from the bearing surface.

14. For use with means for holding a line to a support, said means beingcharacterized in that it has resistance to peeling and slippage whenapplied to said line, said means comprising; a plurality of resilientelements; said elements each having helically preformed end portions andan intermediate substatnially straight portion joining said helicallypreformed end portions; each of said elements of said helicallypreformed end portions substantially conforming as to pitch length andinternal diameter; said elements being positioned to form a group withone another; said group of elements being bent within said intermediatestraight portion to form a substantially straight bight section beingfree of a complete helical revolution; legs extending from therespective ends of said straight bight section each of said legscomprising said helically preformed portions of said elements; the

improvement which comprises at least one member adapted to be secured inabutting relationship with at least a portion of said bight section andformed of an electrically conductive material, said member beingconfigured and arranged to increase the thickness of the bight sectionwhere said bight section is adapted to engage a bearing surface.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein said member includes a strapconfigured to at least partially surround and grippingly engage saidelements.

16. The device of claim 14 wherein said member includes a band, andclamping means configured to secure said strap to said bight.

17. The device of claim 16 wherein said strap is configured to engagethe surface of the bight and adapted for engagement with a bondingclamp.

10 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,918,783 12/1959 Little.2,943,135 6/1960 Bertling 57-145 XR 2,947,504 8/1960 Ruhlman 57145 XR3,018,319 1/1962 Quayle 174--79 3,042,745 7/1962 Williams 174-1733,080,631 3/1963 Ruhlman 57145 XR 3,295,311 1/1967 Butz et al 57-1453,299,626 l/1967 Payer et a1. 57-145 3,347,980 10/1967 Reese 248-63 XRDONALD E. WATKINS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 17479 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,455 ,099 July 151969 Tom B. Butz It is certified that error appears in the aboveidentified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected asshown below:

Column 8, line 2, "band" should read strap Signed and sealed this 9thday of June 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

